“She really is,” Paige said. She lifted her hand and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.
Mitch noticed the bandage on her finger immediately. He felt his brows slam together. “What happened?”
She stopped and frowned at the sharpness in his tone, then followed his gaze to her hand. “Oh. Small cut. No big deal. Cora took care of it.”
Mitch took a breath. He had definitely over-reacted to that even if Cora hadn’t been involved. But knowing Cora had doctored the injury did make him feel better. “You let her put some strange cream on your finger?” he asked.
Paige nodded. “I’m into strange creams.”
“Yeah?” That should have sounded weird, but he found it endearing.
He loved Cora. He’d been almost eight before he’d understood that Cora wasn’t his grandma by blood. Not that something like blood and DNA had ever mattered to the Landrys when it came to considering someone family. Or not.
“Yeah. And it was a salve, actually. I make mine a little differently, but hers is great.”
He leaned in. “You make your own salves and creams?”
“And lotions and scrubs and antiseptics and cleaning solutions and teas,” she said with a nod.
Yep, definitely endearing. His yoga-doing-crazy-cat-lady-vegetarian also made home remedies. That tracked.
“She gave me a calendula.”
Paige pointed, and Mitch looked over to where a bright yellow pot full of orange flowers had joined the other plants along one of the porch windows.
“That was sweet.”
Paige nodded. She was now doodling on the notebook page on her lap. “She told me how to make the salve and said I could take the calendula home with me. I’m supposed to send her some of my salve then.”
Mitch felt his chest tighten, but he made himself nod. “You’ll be able to email back and forth. I can even show her how to Facetime. Again.”
Paige smiled slightly at that. But she didn’t say anything.
He focused on the notebook page. It was full of writing. But he noticed there were also sketches. One looked a lot like the Boys of the Bayou dock.
“So your day at the office was okay?”
“Yeah. Kind of busy but nothing crazy. Booked tours, greeted people. No big deal. Kennedy was there most of the day, and when she had to leave, Sawyer helped me out. Josh and Owen are hilarious.”
“Good. I’m glad they were all good to you.”
Mitch wasn’t in the habit of telling his older cousins to mind their manners. Mostly because he never needed to.
Sawyer, Josh, and Owen generally did mind their manners. At least, well enough to have what they said and did chalked up to playfulness and flirting.
And Mitch had never had a woman he’d felt protective of enough to care if she was comfortable around his family.
“And I…” Paige started.
He waited for a few seconds before nudging the hammock and making it sway. “You what?”
“I had lunch with Tori.”
“Oh. Good.” He should have known that Tori would seek Paige out. That made him feel better. Tori was a friendly face and was one of the sweetest people he knew.
“And Juliet and Maddie.”
“Oh.”
He loved Juliet and Maddie. They were awesome. But they, like any of the other Landrys—and they were Landrys even if the official ceremony hadn’t happened yet—could be a lot in larger doses.
“It was great,” Paige said, meeting his gaze with a smile. “I really like them.”
He didn’t hide the little breath he blew out. “Good. I really like them too.”
“We talked about their weddings.”
Well, shit.
Wedding talk was the exact topic he would have told the women to avoid at all costs with Paige around.
Of course, all three were brides-to-be. The family was going to have a wedding a month for the next three months, starting in just a few weeks. He imagined those girls talked wedding stuff a lot when they were together.
He reached out and took one of Paige’s arms, lifting it and inspecting it from all sides.
“What are you doing?” she asked, bemused.
“Looking for hives.”
She laughed. “I lived through it. Didn’t even break out in a cold sweat.”
He kept hold of her hand when he lowered her arm. He met her gaze. “You’re still here, so I guess they didn’t scare you off completely.”
“Them talking about their weddings is okay, I suppose,” she said. “I won’t get itchy unless you ask me about swatches.”
He nodded. “I don’t really know what swatches are, so I think we’re safe there.”
She smiled. “But I was hoping I could ask you about something without you getting any images of boutonnieres or tuxedos running through your mind.”
He lifted her hand to his lips simply because now that he was touching her, he couldn’t not kiss some part of her. “Also, not entirely sure what a boutonniere is, and you will never see me in a tuxedo, so I think we’re okay.”
He wasn’t sure why his heart was suddenly drumming. It wasn’t the same feeling he’d had stepping into the house. That had been more of an I fucking love this feeling.
This was more of a hopeful feel. And he didn’t really understand that. She was telling him not to read anything into this. Even if he didn’t know what a boutonniere was, he knew she was warning him not to think whatever she was about to say was more than it was.
“Well, I’ve been thinking about a couple of things and I was wondering if you would take me on a swamp boat ride.”
That was not at all what he’d been expecting. “Of course,” he said easily. “But now I’m certain I don’t know what a boutonniere is, and I’m even questioning if I know what a tuxedo is. What do those have to do with swamp boats?”
She laughed. “The girls were talking about all the stuff they have to do for their weddings and everything that’s going wrong and they’re worried about. They don’t seem that into all of the planning. They’re all so busy and have been helping keep the tour company going and are planning to help with the petting zoo too. And it’s pretty amazing how they’re all coming together. I was just thinking that the wedding stuff could be a lot easier.”
Mitch just blinked. She’d been thinking about the other couples’ wedding plans?
She watched him blinking at her for a few seconds. Then she frowned. “Weddings often turn out to be a lot more work than they need to be.”
“Okay.”
“I’ve got several friends and two sisters who have planned weddings, and I’ve been in on a lot of it.”
“Right.”
Her eyes narrowed. “And I planned one for myself.”
His eyes narrowed. “Yeah. Don’t remind me.”
He didn’t need details. He hated the idea that she’d been so close to marrying someone else. And that the whole situation had soured her on relationships and the idea of getting married again.
Yes, she was young. Yes, her mother was pushing her to settle down. Yes, she had plenty of time and should be free to have her relationships on her own terms, whatever those were.
He still wanted her to want to get married.